The Communicatrix has an excellent entry about how to deal with jealousy.

• Ninja trick for dealing with jealousy | communicatrix

Her idea is to look at it like this:

Oh good, that thing is done.

Instead of being jealous that someone has done something so totally cool and you wish you could be that person, you breathe a sigh of relief because you can check that thing off the list.

The first time I experienced this feeling was in 1992. Mike and I had been trying to write a song called “Heart of the City” that never really expressed how I felt about going to downtown Salt Lake City. I felt a connection to the city that I just couldn’t express. I felt COMPLETELY frustrated and impotent to explain myself.

Then The Information Society released “To The City.” In three minutes and thirty seconds, Information Society did what I had been so unable to do. They made a song that conveyed EXACTLY how I felt about driving downtown on the weekends. At first, I felt angry because they beat me to the punch, but within a couple of days, I felt the release of it all. I was GRATEFUL to them for writing the song that I just couldn’t write.

Over the years, my jealousy has abated a lot, but I’m not impervious to it. It’s funny to hear Colleen write about a method of dealing with jealousy that I encountered long ago, but never even thought of sharing it with others. Thanks for reminding me, Communicatrix. I needed that kick in the pants.